Do the Preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the first Task. Watch the video a second time and then finish the Tasks. If you need help, you can read the Transcript at any time.
Preparation
Think about the following questions:
- Do you often do favours for your friends?
- Have you ever helped someone with their job?
Watch Ashlie and Stephen help out in Tristan’s café.
Transcript
Ashlie: Hi, Tristan!
Tristan: Hi, guys. Great to see you!
Stephen: Good to see you! We thought we’d come and try out your new place.
Tristan: Ah, that’s good.
Stephen: Have you got a table for two?
Tristan: Yeah, sure. Over there.
Ashlie: Perfect. Thanks.
Tristan: I’ll be with you in a minute.
Ashlie: Mmm… This looks great. Thank you, Stephen.
Stephen: Ashlie’s been working hard recently, so I’ve invited her out for lunch.
Ashlie: He doesn’t usually take me out for lunch.
Stephen: OK, OK. Come on, what shall we have?
Ashlie: Oh, I don’t know. It all looks delicious. Maybe some soup. That looks so good.
Tristan: Thanks for coming in, guys. Listen, sorry to ask you this, but can you do me a favour?
Stephen: Sure, of course! What is it?
Tristan: We’ve almost run out of coffee. I need to go to the supermarket to buy some more. I need someone to look after the place while I’m away. Would you mind?
Ashlie: Help out in the café? Well, I suppose so. If you’re really stuck.
Tristan: It’s pretty quiet today. You probably won’t have to do anything.
Stephen: I’m sure we’ll be fine.
Tristan: It won’t be for very long. Just ten minutes. I’ve just got to pop out to the supermarket.
Ashlie: Don’t worry about it, Tristan. Look, there aren’t many people here. We’ll keep an eye on everything.
Tristan: Great! Thanks, guys. Oh, by the way, the cook’s gone home sick, so if anyone orders any food, you can take care of things? Great. Thanks, guys. See you later. Bye.
Stephen: This is going to be fun. How about you take the orders in the café, and I’ll be in the kitchen?
Ashlie: Are you sure, Stephen?
Stephen: It’ll be fine. I’ll go and make a start in the kitchen, you bring the orders to me.
Ashlie: OK.
Hi. Can I take your order?
Customer 1: Hi, can I have a cheese sandwich and a green salad, please?
Ashlie: No problem. And what would you like?
Customer 2: I’d like some carrot cake and a cup of tea, please.
Ashlie: I’ve got that. It shouldn’t be long.
Stephen? Er, are you OK, Stephen? What’s going on?
Stephen: Don’t worry, it’s all under control. Where are my food orders?
Ashlie: Let me see. One cheese salad, one carrot sandwich and a green tea, I think.
Stephen: OK, I’ve got that. Cheese, carrot, tea, coming up.
Ashlie: Hi.
Customer 3: Could I have a coffee?
Ashlie: Coffee.
Customer 4: And I think I’ll have a tomato soup, please.
Ashlie: Tomato soup. Coming up.
Hi. What would you like?
Customer 1: Excuse me, we’ve been waiting for ages. Where’s our food?
Ashlie: I’m really sorry, I’m sure it won’t be long. I’ll go and see how the chef’s doing.
Ashlie: Stephen!
Stephen: I’m going as fast as I can! Here you are. A cheese sandwich, a green salad, a carrot cake and a cup of tea.
Ashlie: Are you sure that’s right, Stephen? Wasn’t it cheese salad, a green tea and a carrot sandwich? Oh, I can’t remember now. I’m sure this is all wrong.
Stephen: All right.
Sorry for the delay. A cheese sandwich and a green salad?
Customer 1: Thank you.
Ashlie: And carrot cake and a cup of tea?
Customer 2: That’s for me.
Stephen: There you are. Enjoy your food.
Tristan: Hi, Ashlie. Hi, Stephen.
Ashlie: Hi!
Stephen: Hi, Tristan.
Tristan: Sorry I’ve been so long. There were queues in the supermarket. I’ve got the coffee. I’ll put it in the kitchen.
Stephen: Don’t worry. I’ll put that in the kitchen for you. … Nooo!
Tristan: The customers look happy.
Ashlie: Ah, we did OK. I thought it was going to be a lot harder.
Tristan: You guys really did do a good job. I really appreciate it. The thing is, erm, if you’re interested...
Ashlie: Interested in... in what?
Tristan: Well, you know my dad. You remember him, don’t you? Well, he’s got this little business and he needs a little bit of help.
Stephen: That sounds great, Tristan. We’d love to help out. Ashlie, I think we should be going.
Ashlie: Ah, yes. Nice to see you, Tristan. Bye!
'pop out' and 'pop in' what's the difference?
Hello May Thida Su,
The most common use of 'oop out' is to mean 'go out for a short time'. You might say "I'm popping out to the shop", for example, meaning that you'll be back in a few minutes.
'Pop in' means to visit a person or a place for a short time. It's often used in invitations: "Pop in whenever you feel like it - we're always happy to see you."
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I don't know the meaning of " the cook's gone home sick ". Could you tell me what it means, please?
Hello May Thida Su,
This means that the cook went home due to being sick. Normally, the cook would be there to cook food that customers ask for, but at the moment, the cook is not there. The cook came in earlier, but left work earlier because he or she felt ill.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Sajja,
Well spotted :) Start (verb) and make a start (verb + noun) have a similar meaning. Make a start is a delexical verb phrase and you can read more about them on this page.
In short, instead of using a meaningful verb (e.g. start, look, bite), it's very common to use the related noun forms. We then need to add another verb (e.g. make a start, take a look, have a bite).
This is quite useful because we can then add extra description, if we want. Stephen didn't do that in the video, but it would be possible to say, for example:
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello PhuongHoang,
That's right: the meaning here is that the person (the cook) has gone home because he or she felt sick.
There are other phrases similar to this. For example:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team